FINALLY, it will be settled. Once and for all. No more questions about the constitutionality of allowing parents to pick where they send their children to school.

In a very important move Tuesday, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear the case of a tax-funded program in Cleveland that sends about 4,000 low-income pupils to private schools with scholarships of $2,250 per child. It's the showdown we've been waiting for, as the court will finally determine whether taxpayers can use their own money to buy their children whatever education they choose — public or private.

Even in Georgia, where more than 70,000 students, primarily minorities, attend failing public schools, politicians have offered every excuse in the book, from a lack of private schools to creating a drain on public education dollars. But the one argument that always raised legitimate questions was whether a scholarship program funded with tax dollars, such as the proposed Early HOPE Scholarship, would cross the line between the separation of church and state.

Fortunately, the Supreme Court has been trending toward individual rights in recent years, which makes it seem probable it will side with voucher programs. The current court has ruled to permit public funding of remedial programs at private schools and has rejected a ban on religious organizations meeting on school grounds after classes. The court wisely has sought to empower American citizens to decide for themselves whether they want to participate in anything with a religious affiliation instead of government playing Big Brother.

Public funding for education should follow the child, and the setting should not determine whether the child is entitled to the funding. Whether parents choose a public or private school, we see that as a legal choice permitted by our Constitution. Of course, all we've heard from the education establishment, including teachers' unions, is that parents should have no choice, that the education system is more important than freeing children from failing schools.

The current nine justices have declined opportunities to rule on voucher programs in Maine, Vermont and Wisconsin. Federal and state courts across the country have been divided whether such programs stand constitutional muster. The Supreme Court will now settle the issue, and the nation's poor children should celebrate. They are now one step closer to educational equality.